Red Sox Notes: Chris Sale moved to the 60-day IL, Alex Cora dismisses rumor, Enmanuel Valdez to focus on his defense

The Red Sox announced that left-hander Chris Sale has been moved to the 60-day injured list. 

The southpaw is dealing with a stress reaction in the scapula bone (shoulder blade). His injury will not require surgery, but Sale will need to rest and rehab. The expectation is that he will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks. 

Sale is eligible to return from the IL on Aug. 2. He will be unable to perform any baseball activities over the next few weeks. 

“It’s not perfect,” said Alex Cora to reporters from Yankee Stadium, “but we know it’s not a surgical procedure. That’s huge for us, right? Now, we just have to be patient, re-assess the situation in four or five weeks and see where we’re at.”

The setback is costly for Sale who was starting to get back into a groove over his last few starts. He was starting to build momentum, throwing five-plus innings in each of his last seven starts, the Sox were 7-3 in his starts this season. 

“The hope is for him to get to his rehab and be ready to pitch at one point this season,” said Cora. “Obviously timetable-wise, I cannot give you a day or whatever but that’s a hope. We’ve been through this past before. We’ve been patient with him and grinded with him so we’ll do the same thing again and hopefully he can perform again this season for us.”

The Sox originally placed Sale on the 15-day IL with shoulder soreness following being pulled from his start against the Reds. 

“It’s just kind of a gut punch. I hate feeling like this,” Sale told reporters at Fenway Park on June 2. “I started having fun playing baseball again, and now I’m back to not having fun, and that sucks.”

Sale is no stranger to dealing with injuries the last couple of years. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020 and missed the majority of the 2021 season. He went 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA in nine starts. 

The 34-year-old was looking to build off a strong finish to the 2021 season, but unfortunately he suffered a stress fracture in his rib cage before the 2022 campaign. Then he broke his pinky finger off a comebacker at Yankee Stadium and then broke his wrist a few weeks later in a bicycle accident that completely ended his season. 

“He’s been through a lot since 2018,” said Cora. “The work that you put in to be able to pitch at this level, and, in his situation, the rehab process and all that, not being able to participate, not being able to be a big leaguer, he’s said in the past it takes a toll. It’s hard.

“But I do believe in this situation, he’s in a better frame of mind.”

Injuries aside, Sale was starting to look like a stabilizing presence in the Sox rotation. Prior to the injury, Sale was 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA over his last six starts, he’s held opponents to a .191 batting average in 36 innings since April 30. 

Alex Cora Dismisses Rumor 

In midst of the recent Red Sox struggles and dipping back below the .500 mark (31-32) and losing Sale for an extended period of time, a tweet surfaced on social media fueling speculation on Cora’s future in Boston.

ESPN’s Karl Ravech tweeted the idea of the Sox skipper joining his alma mater, the University of Miami and becoming their manager.